News < Back To NEWS

Hi Team,

True story: I nearly failed English in year 12.
I achieved a score of 23% in the mid-year English exam and was advised to consider not sitting the end of year exams. (In 1979 it was a prerequisite to pass English to graduate in year 12) With the help of an English tutor and lots of practice exams I ended up passing English and I achieved a pretty good end of year result. What's ironic is that I have always actually enjoyed writing, but back then I hadn't found what I was interested in writing about. 

"Everyone writes, everyone has a story, a personal narrative which is constantly being played out and revised. All children write (and paint and sing), the real question is why do so many people give it up?" Margaret Atwood

Fast-forward to today and writing has made a comeback in my life and is now both a hobby and part of my job.

Writing, speech and creativity are traits unique to humans and these skills set us apart from all other animals. Writing in particular has allowed humans to share and develop knowledge and wisdom over thousands of years and has been the foundation of our civilized society. Writing is also a profoundly personal experience. Like most creative pursuits writing is both selfish and selfless. The act of writing is a solo endeavour, but once it is posted/published it is out there for everyone to read. Personally, I only ever write about what interests me and what I want to learn about, in the hope that others have similar curiosity? The hardest part about taking writing seriously, is that doing it is scary. You have to take responsibility for what you create...

"There are three rules for writing a good essay. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham

The mentoring I have been doing for the last few months has given my writing a new purpose. To polish it up a bit, I have been doing some on-line writing courses (the first form of English learning for 43 years). I have now become aware of how universally important writing is to every single person and that we all have a unique personal relationship with the written word.

"After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world." Philip Pullman

Being able to write well is a fundamental skill in life. Our main form of communication is written emails, texts, social media, and chat lines. Writing has become the most important life skill of the 21st Century.

Here are a few dot-points for why writing is so important.

• It is the best way of clarifying your thoughts.
• It is our primary form of communication via emails and texts.
• It is how you will be judged professionally and personally.
• It is the yardstick for job recruitment and job promotion.
• It is an extension to your personality.
• It is a primary for of creativity.
• Creativity is possibly the most valuable skill you have.

"Writing is a very peculiar sport. It's always you versus a blank sheet of paper and quite often the blank sheet of paper wins." Neil Gaiman

Thanks for reading,
Stay safe and remember "a word after a word after a word is power".
David